Rad Racer NES

Description

Rad Racer Nintendo NES Game Cartridge

Rad Racer was released for the NES in 1987. It was published by Nintendo and developed by Square. In the game, the player will drive an F1 formula car or a Ferrari 328 through racing tracks. Square attempted to make this game a part of the 3-D games they were developing, being followed by several other video games using technology of the same kind. It sold over a half million copies, being considered a top racing game for the NES.

The goal for Rad Racer was to get through a track and the checkpoints before the time expired. The car the player drives will crash if colliding with road signs or trees going any speed. A car that is hit from behind will slow down and if hit on the side it will be jettisoned into that direction. When crashing, it will be more difficult to reach checkpoints due to it slowing down the player. Eight levels make up the game, all with increasing difficulty. If the timer runs out, the player’s vehicle will coast for a little while before coming to a stop. If the car crosses a checkpoint while coasting, the game will continue. The 3-D mode can be activated by pressing Select and wearing a pair of 3-D glasses. The game originally came with 3-D glasses that the player could wear to give an illusion of seeing 3-D.

When selecting a car, the player has a choice of the Ferrari 328 or the F1 formula car, which looks similar to the 87′ Honda/Lotus 99T Formula One car that was sponsored by Camel. Even though there is technically no better performance for choosing the F1 rather than the Ferrari, it is debated by racing fans. Both of the cars reach a top speed of 255 km/h since 255 was the highest integer that 8 bits could represent. The turbo can activate when pressing Up on the D-pad, giving the car more speed. It is deactivated whenever Up is released.